It's not unusual to hear of allegations of wrongdoing against someone without ever hearing of their ultimate resolution. Recently, the media reported that 2010 Tour de France winner Alberto Contador had tested positive for clenbuterol. The banned substance showed up in a blood sample taken on the second rest day of the Tour de France. If all you ever heard was that allegation, it would be easy to think, "One more doping cyclist down the tubes." You had to read beyond the headlines to learn that the trace amount of the drug in his blood was consistent with eating beef that had been injected with the drug, something Contador claims he did that day. Most likely, unless Contador is ultimately found gulty of doping, these allegations are the last we will ever hear of the matter, because if the UCI (the agency that monitors drug use among cyclists) clears him, no one in the media will even bother to report it.
Something similar happened to Paul and Silas in Acts 16. They were stripped and beaten with rods and thrown into jail without any formal charges being placed against them by the magistrates of Philippi. These things were done to them based only on the allegation of some angry slave owners after Paul cast out a demon that enabled the slave girl to make money for her owners by fortune-telling.
God intervened, however, and Paul and Silas were miraculously freed from jail in the middle of the night when an earthquake threw open the jail doors and their bonds fell off. Upon hearing of this incident, the magistrates ordered Paul and Silas to be released quietly. Clearly they had not done anything deserving of the beating and imprisonment they received.
Paul, however, would not hear of it. In Acts 16:37 Paul told the officers representing the magistrates: "They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out." Paul wasn't going to let the allegations against him to be removed quietly.
Why? Was Paul too proud to allow himself to be falsely accused? It wasn't a matter of pride. Rather, Paul did not want the name of Jesus Christ to be disgraced by the false allegations against himself and Silas. He insisted that they be escorted out of prison by the magistrates to publicly demonstrate their innocence.
Sometimes we may be tempted to let false allegations against ourselves or other Christians go unchecked. We may conclude that it's better to simply suffer quietly. Paul's actions remind us of the importance of standing up for the name of Jesus. When we are falsely accused of wrongdoing because we follow Jesus, we need to be concerned not just about our own reputation. We need to be concerned about the truth of the Gospel and the good name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ask God for wisdom about when you should speak up to defend the name of Jesus and the truth of God's Word.
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